Chapter 26: Haru Caught in a Love Triangle?

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Inside the living room, Migiwa Ichirou and Harada Daisuke exchanged glances.

"You don't think Akira brought him here to meet us already, do you?" Upon hearing the news of the Devil King's arrival, Harada Daisuke was utterly astonished.

He and Migiwa Ichirou hadn't even figured out a suitable way to "sell" Akira to curry favor with the Devil King and secure their positions.

"Knowing Akira's personality, it's actually quite possible," Migiwa Ichirou said, thinking of Akira's energetic and decisive nature. Did you want to get your father's approval, Akira?

"Come on, Daisuke. We just have to adapt to the situation." Patting himself down, Migiwa Ichirou stood up and walked out of the living room. I have to see for myself what kind of person wants to marry my daughter. He has to pass my test. With a determined expression, Migiwa Ichirou headed for the entrance.

"Th-this..." Remembering the time he almost offended the Devil King and died on the street, his head still throbbed with pain from that encounter, Harada Daisuke stood up, trembling.

Old friend, you're the father-in-law, so you're not afraid, but I am! After a moment of hesitation, Harada Daisuke followed Migiwa Ichirou.

The black Toyota slowly came to a stop in front of a Japanese-style wooden mansion.

Click! The car door opened, and Haru, Akira, and Kazuha stepped out. Haru looked around at the building, his eyes shimmering with a faint golden light.

That's strange. I don't sense any energy. How could it be haunted? But the Earth Veins seem a bit off… Am I imagining things? No! If I can sense something unusual, there must be something here.

A pair of delicate hands gently wrapped around Haru's neck. It was Akira, her small hands clutching old talismans. "Come on, stop looking. Let's go inside and catch the ghost!"

"Thank you for parking the car in the garage, Chisaka-san! Wait a minute, Akira, that's a bit too intimate. Girls should be more reserved!" Migiwa Ichirou, who had been greeting the driver, Nogizaka Chisaka, turned around and saw their intimate actions. His face flushed with embarrassment.

"Haha, Kazuha is jealous. Don't worry; I won't fight you for Haru!" Akira teased Kazuha mercilessly.

"Fight for who? We've only just met!" Kazuha retorted, picking up her small bag and lightly hitting Akira's head. Her girlish heart fluttered, and her face flushed.

She snuck a few glances at Haru's profile. After all, his handsome, boyish features were quite appealing to a young lady from a wealthy family.

At that moment, Migiwa Ichirou and Harada Daisuke walked out of the front door and towards the trio.

"Good afternoon, Father, Uncle Harada!" Kazuha greeted them with a graceful curtsy.

Akira panicked upon seeing the two men and hid behind Kazuha, whispering in her ear. "Kazuha, you tricked me! Shouldn't Father be out at this time? And Uncle Harada is here too!"

"I don't know. Father wasn't home when we left," Kazuha replied, reaching behind her to hold Akira's hand and calm her down.

Akira had always come to their house when her parents were away.

Whenever Migiwa Ichirou learned from the butler that Akira was coming, he would always find an excuse to avoid her. He had never come out to greet them like this before.

Could it be because of him? Kazuha looked curiously at Haru's back.

Migiwa Ichirou and Harada Daisuke approached Haru and bowed deeply at a ninety-degree angle. Their faces were plastered with flattering smiles. "Your Majesty, it is an honor to have you grace our humble abode!"

"..."

"Hey, is that really my father?" Akira stared, dumbfounded, at the two men, who were behaving like servants.

"I don't think so," Kazuha responded, equally bewildered. Migiwa Ichirou, who had always been a strict figure to them, was now bowing and scraping before Haru, along with Harada Daisuke, almost like servants attending to a king.

The once-imposing image of her father crumbled in Kazuha's mind.

Haru, watching the two men bowing before him and sensing the strange gazes from the two girls behind him, felt his lips twitch uncontrollably. I shouldn't have come. I should just solve this quickly and leave.

"Your Majesty, please come inside!" Migiwa Ichirou gestured invitingly.

"No need. I only came because Kazuha mentioned that this place is haunted. I wanted to have a look," Haru replied.

His eyes shimmered with golden light as he activated his clairvoyance, piercing through the earth to observe the flow of the Earth Veins.

His gaze fell upon the faint magical aura emanating from the talismans beneath the study, and he finally understood.

"Did you offend someone recently? Someone is using Onmyoudou to curse you," Haru said, looking at Migiwa Ichirou.

"Eh, a curse? Forgive me, but what kind of curse is it, Your Majesty?" Harada Daisuke's face turned serious as he inquired.

"It should be a curse-killing Shikigami from a minor branch of the Kōga-ryū," Haru replied, his gaze penetrating the study to examine the talismans.

Thanks to the egg's ability to decipher the essence of magic after analyzing the Sayanomiya family's thousand-year-old collection, Haru's understanding of Onmyoudou surpassed even that of Abe no Seimei, in a sense.

However, it was useless to him as a Campione with divine powers.

"Excuse me," Harada Daisuke said, taking out a talisman and manipulating the Shikigami.

"Rin, Pyou, Tou, Sha, Kai, Jin, Retsu, Zai, Zen!"

A snow-white fox materialized beside him. The Mondai Inari Shrine worshipped Inari, whose familiar took the form of a fox. Naturally, the Shikigami passed down through the shrine were also fox spirits.

The fox stretched lazily, then darted towards the study. In a flash, it dove underground. A moment later, it leaped out, holding a small paper doll in its mouth, and ran back to Harada Daisuke.

Looking at the paper doll in the fox's mouth, Harada Daisuke said with a dark expression, "It really is a curse-killing technique from the Kōga-ryū!"

Recalling the recent activities of all known Kōga-ryū practitioners, Harada Daisuke identified the suspect. "Recently, among those vying for the position of Speaker, Mimoto Daiki seems to have a Kōga-ryū practitioner as a guest advisor, doesn't he, Ichirou?"

Migiwa Ichirou stared blankly at Kazuha.

His mind had been reeling ever since Haru addressed Kazuha directly by her name without any objection from her.

(Actually, she was too stunned by Migiwa Ichirou's behavior to react.) In Japan, only close friends of the opposite sex would address each other so casually.

Do I have to give away both my daughters? Migiwa Ichirou thought, tears welling up in his eyes.

...

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